I find it odd that there is no area for X-Plane discussion on this forum.

I have not bought it yet, too much $$$ tied up in FSX, but would enjoy learning more about it and see what people can do in X-Plane. Is there a bias against X-Plane or is it really less relevant to flight simulation than IL-2 or other 4+ year old software releases?

I am serious trying to figure out what company takes Flight Simulation serious and is ACTIVELY coding a program that will use current computer technology to the fullest for physics and realism. I am no longer convinced this is MS and would be interested in X-Plane discussion on this forum and perhaps Storm of War when they get a beta out.

Thanks and I hope to hear why X-Plane is not included.

DaveKDEN

January 24th, 2009, 14:10

Sure, why not. Though I'm not counting FS out of the picture just yet.

Wiens

January 24th, 2009, 14:14

We have other variants of simulated flight; why not X-Plane?!?!

I'd be interested in it.

Kevin

MCDesigns

January 24th, 2009, 14:15

I can't say why there isn't one, but wouldn't mind it myself. There have been quite a few threads on it lately in the various forums and most of the general consensus is that it has come a long way and has some very good points, but is still lacking in many ways to MSFS. Definitely interested in seeing where it goes in the next few years though.

Pepere

January 24th, 2009, 14:19

Sure.

David :kilroy:

Scratch

January 24th, 2009, 14:19

Wouldn't bother me none. I tried it once and hated it, but that was a couple of years ago. I'm sure it is better now.

harleyman

January 24th, 2009, 14:49

I too tried it..I found it to be...Well, I did not like it at all..

But its a free world,err,forum,if they want it why not.....

txnetcop

January 24th, 2009, 14:54

I'm open. It beats going over to their forum and listening to them bash MSFS. Flightsimming is flightsimming. I like 'em all...well most of them. I still think X-Plane has a ways to go but new addons are coming in almost daily and the freeware aircraft are definitely improving.
Ted

Boomer

January 24th, 2009, 14:57

I would like to see it as well.

I used to fly version 7 & just order version 9 this afternoon.

deimos256

January 24th, 2009, 15:01

ooo where did the pc-7 come from? I have the latest iteration of xplane but took it off my HD after getting frustrated with the settings and the attitude from the community. With the sacking of Aces we might see MSFS get neglected or perhaps the next version delayed, this might be the next step.

RCAF_Gunner

January 24th, 2009, 15:21

I'd be interested in hearing other people's X-Plane experiences. Probably a dedicated board would be the way to go.

n4gix

January 24th, 2009, 15:28

I'm open. It beats going over to their forum and listening to them bash MSFS.

I definitely do not want to endure having to listen to the "told you so's" myself. While we have no immediate plans to do so, I have been tasked with investigating how difficult it would be to adapt our existing hanger of projects for X-Plane...

Right now though, we're continuing full steam ahead on our current FS9 and FSX projects.

FS9 and FSX aren't going to suddenly quit working, after all! :ernae:

LTCSZ

January 24th, 2009, 15:30

I have V9 and have installed it and removed it several times...I still think FSX is more user friendly, but X-Plane certainly has it's fan base...I could never get it functioning properly...Probably too many FSX brain cells in the way...But, if we could have an intelligent, friendly discussion of X-Plane, I would sure be willing to give it another try...

Steve in Kansas

CG_1976

January 24th, 2009, 15:46

I just bought my copy today and installed on my #3 computer. I say why not lets have a third flight sim forum dedicated to X-plane.

Major_Spittle

January 24th, 2009, 16:36

I might pick up a copy at wal-fart if it still has it in stock. I should download the demo, but trust what people on the forum say.

Does anyone know how it supports Multiplayer? Any Combat or racing?

crashaz

January 24th, 2009, 16:43

Any sim that is going to be as popular as the FS series better have tools to create new planes, new scenery, new weather etc.

That is what made FS so cool.... if you saw something missing... you could learn the tools and add it yourself. That is what makes FS/CFS so popular.

You'd think the competitors would have figured that out by now.

Gdavis101

January 24th, 2009, 16:55

I use version 9 every now and then. Its a nice change of pace.

Lionheart

January 24th, 2009, 16:59

I definately would like to see a X-Plane forum in here.

Any sim that is going to be as popular as the FS series better have tools to create new planes, new scenery, new weather etc.

That is what made FS so cool.... if you saw something missing... you could learn the tools and add it yourself. That is what makes FS/CFS so popular.

Crashaz

They do. There are 2 different systems to making XP9 planes on, one is freeware, and one is payware like FSDS. Also, you can use exisiting 'aero' models and use a 'face model' (visible model) for making planes with now.

IanP

January 25th, 2009, 00:14

I'm all for having an X-Plane forum for those that have/use/are interested in it. The fanatics and 'told-you-so's can gloat and snipe as much as they like in there, because I won't be visiting a whole lot, but it's a very capable sim at what it does and is worthy of more coverage and support than it gets.

SirBenn21

January 25th, 2009, 00:17

I'm open. It beats going over to their forum and listening to them bash MSFS. Flightsimming is flightsimming. I like 'em all...well most of them. I still think X-Plane has a ways to go but new addons are coming in almost daily and the freeware aircraft are definitely improving.
Ted

Is this a free add-on? Where can I get it. :faint:

EDIT: Couldn't attach the PC-7 attachments.

Lionheart

January 25th, 2009, 01:18

Ted,

That PC7 is amazing...

Looks like a ton of Vertices in that baby.. I wonder if they 'dont' have Vertice limits? Would be interesting to know.

Bill

Francois

January 25th, 2009, 01:52

We tried X-plane forums several times. It is basically a waste of time and a waste of space. Forums require visitors, a community. X-plane remains a one-man band with nice technology features, but no real communities around it like with CFS or MSFS. Every time we try it we fail... because X-Plane itself doesn't really support its users that way and neither is there a flourishing add-on industry for it.

Nothing against having a forum for it, but I predict it will fail again. ;-)

txnetcop

January 25th, 2009, 02:09

Bill the aircraft is called PC7_Swiss on the x-plane.org site. This is the author. I know he participates in the forum but if you go pick up the airplane you can contact him that way. He is working on a version 9.21.

Aircraft created by Bertrand AUGRAS for X-Plane 8.60 and +
Please, consult the "cockpit_procedure.jpg" file for help about using panel.

I really am not that crazy over their forum, and I really would love to tear into them over their lack knowledge concerning MSFS and PCs in general, but I am hoping that we have our own X-Plane site.

I really disliked so many things about version 5,6, and 7 that I quit until version 9 and it was hard getting started, but now that I have it down pretty good I see the virtues, however it is not better than MSFS at so many levels. The biggest lie is that MSFS aircraft ride on unseen rails, even big adjustments some X-Plane aircraft are twitchy-that drives me nuts!

It is a good simulator and getting better all the time. I would love to see more scenery and aircraft brought from MSFS to X-Plane. "I told you so" is unneccessary in our own forum. It's just like having our own FS9 and FSX forum. You don't have to go cause trouble with other side of house, as X-Plane is just not for everyone-a high learning curve. It would be nice to share the knowledge on our own site so as not to bash MSFS.

I could not moderate, my personal plate is full. It would require a dedicated one, and permission from ADMINS and a lot of work on Ickie's part. I also think it would be worth more donations as well. If ya plays ya pays.
Ted

harleyman

January 25th, 2009, 02:25

Couldn't even get the X Plane off the groung...Or moving in anything but circles.....

I saw few pics of it on their forum...I did see one of an airport..There were no buildings..Just one jetway at runway side...It just looked stupid to me...

Helldiver

January 25th, 2009, 04:34

I was given X-Plane 9 as an present. After a lot of time learning all their rules, and strange they are, I found the airplanes twitchy and kind of unstable. Not like a real airplane at all. I could trim my 108 out and fly her hands off. You have to keep on the joystick all the time. The scenery was pretty much non-existent and Logan Airport in Boston could be mistaken for KLAX. Distances seem to gray out like the whole world enjoys Los Angeles smog. Airplanes appear to slightly blurred compared to FSX realistic ones.
Just one guys opinion but after FSX with Acceleration who needs X-Plane? They got a lot to go unless your queer about flying on Mars.

IanP

January 25th, 2009, 04:48

I just discovered - after a lot of digging - that there is actually now an in-cockpit FMC available for X-Plane...

...MSFS had EFIS98 in 1997.

X-Plane needs a lot more work before it becomes a viable alternative to MSFS, both in the background and in terms of what is available for it. I think - indeed I hope - that the current situation at MS will get some more of that development done, but right now, it cannot do what I want it to and that's the end of the story. FS9 can, FSX can. X-Plane can't.

MCDesigns

January 25th, 2009, 04:54

Distances seem to gray out like the whole world enjoys Los Angeles smog.

That is the one thing I have noticed in the many screenshots I have seen, the world is very dark.

I wonder with this stupid move by MS, how many will become more involved in the Xplane community. I can see them over there wondering where all these people are coming from, LOL

Seeing as there is a lack of addons for it, I contemplated doing scenery for it since I am familiar with Blender (http://scenery.x-plane.com/tools.php), one of the supported design apps, but I have to much on my plate already with FSX.

EDIT Speak of the devil, just saw this at the Xplane site
http://www.x-plane.com/ms_to_xp/ms_to_xp.html

harleyman

January 25th, 2009, 05:17

His little speach in your link was intresting to say the least..I just regestered there 2 days ago and the reception was far from friendly IMO...

I was almost banned the first 3 posts there.And recieved several PM's from members not to speak to their Golden Mods like that....LOL

Oh well... I just wanted some help..not a bunch of flack...

IanP

January 25th, 2009, 05:39

You have to remember that Austin Meyer - in the eyes of X-Plane fanaticdom - is God for taking on the evil empire of Microsoft. MSFS is wrong. They are right (although Flightgear passes muster to be allowed to be mentioned in a non-derogatory way as well - MSFS does not).

I've said this before, but it bears repeating. They are only following as they are led. The one time I was in the same room as Mr. Meyer was an awards ceremony for FS developers. X-Plane products were up for a number of awards, but so were some exceptionally good MSFS add-ons. Every time an MSFS add-on won something, Mr. Meyer and retinue sat there stony faced, arms folded, and/or shook their heads a little, while the rest of the crowd applauded. When an X-Plane mod/add-on won, they were cheering and whooping and on their feet with arms in the air. Everyone else was clapping a little louder too, but nowhere near the adulation from that one table.

As soon as the next winner was announced, the table was back to arms folded, stony silence.

I'm afraid that immature rants (with some factual inaccuracies) are what I expect from the X-Plane fanatics over events like those of the last few days - with much gloating and sneering. Harleyman's description above is fairly typical of those I hear from people trying to move from MSFS to X-Plane (or keep using both, which is an even worse crime, apparently) who have dared to go there. So where are these tens of thousands of users flocking to X-Plane and ditching MSFS? I'd put good money, if I had any, on the fact that they don't exist. People are realising that X-Plane has promise and are using both. However, the ego has landed, and what he says shall be written down as hallowed truth.

What I am hoping, very much, is that if there is a sudden influx of developers and users from the MSFS community to X-Plane, they will tell the denizens to shut the heck up so regularly and prove their incorrect assumptions to be so on so many occasions, that they have to grow up and get over their bigotry.

I have nothing against the sim. I'd use it happily if - as I said before - it did what I wanted it to. The people surrounding it? A different matter.

txnetcop

January 25th, 2009, 06:11

They remind me of the people at People's Temple-Jim Jones group and they love their Kool-Aid. Austin is the Exalted One and as you say IAN Microsoft the evil empire. I will say that some of them have been extremely kind about the ACES deal and have great sympathy for their plight, but then you get the other mob that can't see beyond the forest they created.

BTW Michael their sales may be up but they are not counting the ones who buy it, try it and toss it! Those are in the majority. I meet them on facebook and other sim sites like Flight Gear. Still I think an XPlane forum over here would be cool we haven't drunk the Kool-Aid.
Ted

Boomer

January 25th, 2009, 06:35

Interesting read MC. Indeed Austin is rubbing his palms together.

I always enjoyed X-Plane & MSFS concurrently (must be my latent schizophrenia) and never believed that one was overtly better then the other. Both have their strengths & weakness's.

As long as one can appreciate the differences between the sims & not engage in petty one up man ship I think a X-plane forum would do well here.
We have the right kind of group to support such an endeavor.

My X-plane CD should be delivered in a few days & I look forward to posting my observations.

I know the current Mods are pressed for time so if the group should decide to create a X-plane forum I volunteer my services to assist with it.

spotlope

January 25th, 2009, 06:57

I tried the X-Plane 9 demo at several points along the development, and was highly unimpressed. The graying out that Helldiver mentioned was persistent, and my demo told me it was to preserve frame rates. What? I thought one of the great things about X-P was supposed to be how smoothly it ran compared to MSFS. Hardly. My performance was worse than FSX, and with much worse graphics. Also, I never could figure out how to get my TrackIR to work, even with checking the little tick-box in the labyrinthine settings control panel.

Uh-uh. Not for me unless they do a lot of clean up on the interface, the looks, and the performance.

Lionheart

January 25th, 2009, 13:20

EDIT Speak of the devil, just saw this at the Xplane site
http://www.x-plane.com/ms_to_xp/ms_to_xp.html

MC Designs

Thanks for posting that Michael. Gives me some faith in 'plan B'.

On the topic of graying out or background visibility being limited, you can adjust that. It says its for frame rates, but you can tune it to be 100 miles or more. I was running mine like that, and it did have popups saying that frame rates can be improved with less visibility range.

Also, I found you could adjust the Ambient light. It does seem a little dark. Just brighten it up a bit.

There is also a key that adjusts the position of the sun. Pretty fun to 'move the sun' accross the sky in its arc trajectory, lol... (If you hold it down, the sun starts racing accross the sky, then into the night, all the stars, then up comes the sun again, sort of like in the movie "The Time Machine". :d

I love the sim, but then I 'see' potentials. There will sometimes be a freeware plane released, and no one says anything about it because its not perfect, doesnt have a VC, doesnt have this or that in it like the others.. But I see the possibilities in it, what its capable of. I was there. My first work was grim!!!! (eww.. very grim). But we all improve, change, grow...

So.. With that, I say, keep an open mind.. Dont let negativity 'control' your directions, or you will not see the good in things, not see the good in the world.

I should say that most of the time I am writing now in the forums, I am in Mac mode, not windows. Change isnt so bad. Its different. Sometimes better, sometimes not.. I love Mac Leopard over Windows now. I like FS9 over FSX and over X-Plane, but I see the potential in X-Plane. I see X-Plane as being in the FS2000 stage, maybe even FS2002 Pro stage. That means they are behind, but it doesnt mean its not worth it.. Its new, and its growing..

Bill

EDIT: Ted, I know what you mean about the planes being twitchy. These do have 'config files' of sorts (diff name) and someone has told me (cant remember his name, arrghh) that you can adjust the planes to handle softer. Ive been meaning to do this with the 172 to improve it a tad and get rid of the twitchyness.

harleyman

January 25th, 2009, 13:53

My first wife was twitchy...

No...That started with a B...

sorryto interupt........:wavey:

Roger

January 25th, 2009, 14:02

Signed up at the X-Plane forum, just to see what's going on. Looks active and I didn't see much "told you so" over the demise of Aces, in fact some of the posts were sorry to see MSFS go.
The important thing to me is does X-Plane offer "gradual transition" in spot view? Without it I will not investigate further. CFS3 did not have this option so I dropped it instantly as I can't stand the "toy plane on a stick" scenario without gradual transition.

limjack

January 25th, 2009, 16:06

I wouldn't mind a x-plane forum just to hear what it is all about but I will be stuck on FSX for many years to come. I still have so much to learn, so many avenues I can take with FSX. It really is a chance to really dig into this program and not have to worry about upgrading any time soon. I have always been one to enjoy what I got and get the most out of it!

Jim

RCAF_Gunner

January 25th, 2009, 16:17

Roger,

I downloaded the X-Plane v9 beta demo and installed it. It takes a while to install because it downloads the pieces over the internet as it installs (I believe the retail version comes on DVD). From my limited go at it, I noticed in the external view you can zoom in and out with the - & = keys and you can pan around the exterior with the arrow keys. I'm not sure if that answers your question.

The only configuration I did was to set up the joystick/pedal axis and the monitor resolution. The lack of familiar key strokes and lack of a configured hat switch made hopping between views and moving around awkward but it looks highly configurable.

I could not find a true "full screen" mode setting but was able to fill the screen by selecting the same resolution as my desktop. There were some texture tearing issues owing to vertical sync. I think this could be forced on but perhaps not as I thought I was already forcing that with the nVidia control panel. The other issue I ran into quickly is the whole world isn't rendered in the demo but it looks like all the airports are so I ended up over nothing but water after I jumped to CYYJ. Oops. I need to figure out where the demo scenery is and get back there.

Honest first impression is it has good potential. Were the MSFS products to quit working tomorrow then I'd still have a flight sim I could enjoy. I really want to try it on my iMac too but I might need more RAM first. It's nowhere near as mature as FSX and it felt like stepping backwards in a time warp for the virtual flying experience ~ not so much the included 3D models and their FMs but the scenery. This is not meant as a put down. Far from it considering its almost a "David vs Goliath" kind of comparison; in that regard it's quite impressive. It just means that I'll watch its progress with great interest but I will still keep FSX going as long as I can, continue to buy add-ons, etc, until it's no longer an option.

Rick

Prowler1111

January 25th, 2009, 16:23

The King is dead, long love the King?..afraid NOT, just because MS stopped more FS development in the NEAR future (and the fact the donīt want to sell it..big hint) means they have NOT killed the series..at least yet.NOW..everytime MS delivered a new version, people ranted..we want FS) but with more xxx or FSX with more xxx, :violent: FSX was not just filling the shelves when people were thinking when FS11 will come!...dudes, the fact we wont see a new FS platform say next year, doesnīt mean we have to stuff it and go home, it means more time to enjoy FSX and tweak it and make i even better---īcause there is a 50/50 chance FS11 will be a completely new ride!lighten up , people.
And regarding X-plane9 (reason of this thread)i bought it, i HONESTLY looked for something else, to be frank, i looked for a new market, bought the DVDīs installed, and it was like a time travel.....to what we all hoped FS98 would look like....i still have it installed, but rarely touch it.
Best regards
Prowler

txnetcop

January 25th, 2009, 17:26

Prowler I don't think anyone in this group wants to leave FSX, I know I would not as we have only scratched the surface of what is there. However it would be nice to have an X-Plane forum so that the negativity that is usually expressed over on their side can be more useful for those here who happen to fly both sims.

Austin Meyer is moving very quickly to take advantage of the confusion and many FS simmers are confused about what this means to FSX especially in light of the online activation required for FSX. I think that information being spread by Austin Meyer's Laminar Research here:

would be best interpreted here on our own forum for X-Plane users. The word needs to be spread that FSX is very viable for many years to come should it take Microsoft that long to move on it. However we can't afford to leave X-Plane questions and information to the other side.
Ted

GT182

January 25th, 2009, 18:05

One important question. Does X-Plane 9 support the Tracker IR4?

bkeske

January 25th, 2009, 18:46

EDIT Speak of the devil, just saw this at the Xplane site
http://www.x-plane.com/ms_to_xp/ms_to_xp.html

That is enough to turn me off. I do not NEED someone to capitalize words to emphasize their POINTS to me.

Grow up Mr Meyer.

Alvega

January 25th, 2009, 19:10

That is enough to turn me off. I do not NEED someone to capitalize words to emphasize their POINTS to me.

Grow up Mr Meyer.

:amen: One thing is for sure, he ain't gonna get my hard earned money. Long live FSX.

Lionheart

January 25th, 2009, 19:37

One important question. Does X-Plane 9 support the Tracker IR4?

Track IR, yes...

I dont know what IR4 is though. (Works on my rig).

Bill

falcon409

January 25th, 2009, 20:28

One thing is for sure, he ain't gonna get my hard earned money. Long live FSX.

. . . . .The bottom line is that we at Laminar Research are ready to accept the inflow of customers from Microsoft, will continue to make X-Plane the best flight simulator in the industry
Cocky SOB ain't he. . . .grrrr. . .sure glad we're all bailing out at such an alarming rate that he's already in the gold room counting his millions before they're hatched. That alone would be enough for me to stick with FS9/FSX until I'm too senile to know what a computer is anymore.
I'm another that wouldn't give that guy a dime of my money, as far as I'm concerned my staying with FS9/FSX shows my determination to support the guys from ACES that have given us what we have now, no thanks to Microsoft.

JT8D-9A

January 26th, 2009, 03:03

We only talk about X-Plane because of the weakness of MS and not because X-Plane "all interesting features will be in the next version" is so much better.
Flightgear and Seven-G are looking more interesting to me EDIT: than X-Plane.
But my main Sim will remain FSX, because of its SDK and graphics.

I would vote for a separate forum for all non-MS flight simulators (Flightgear, X-Plane etc).

txnetcop

January 26th, 2009, 03:05

All of this talk of not giving Austin our money is well and good but there are some of us who have been flying X-Plane since the early days on and off and many of us who have version 9, now 9.22. Why send these guys to get brainwashed or brutalized at X-Plane.org.

You should see how Harleyman was treated over there just for asking questions about how to get his PC rig setup to run FSX. Those MAC loving loonies over there brow beat him and one suggested that you can't run X-Plane well on a PC-a outright lie. I run it better than they do!

I doubt if anyone in here is stupid enough to leave FSX or FS9 to go to X-Plane, as it has a long way to go to be a great simulator, but we can help each other not waste what we have spent.

I'm not rich and this was a gift that I chose not to return. I love flight simming and I want people on both sides of the aisle to be able to enjoy their hobby as much as I do. It is why I share the knowledge I share about computers and what makes one run best. It is also why I build them. I know how to build a system that makes X-Plane and FSX sing. There are quite a few in here that know that because they are using my build or have had help in building one.

Let's not send our folks over to their side to drink the Kool-Aid! If you don't want to buy X-Plane I agree. I would not purchase it while MSFS is still viable and growing. You have to understand though that Microsoft passed the baton to Austin Meyer by doing what they did with our ACES team, dropping full support for MSFS, and Train Sim 2.0. Perhaps unknowingly they gave that egomaniac what he has always wanted, but I doubt that Microsoft didn't count the cost. FSX is a small revenue item compared to other things they have cooking on the back burner, in bad times a smaller revenue item is going to go to the back burner and something else brought forward-it's business not evil empire stuff.

Ted

Francois

January 26th, 2009, 03:36

Cocky SOB ain't he. . . .grrrr. . .sure glad we're all bailing out at such an alarming rate that he's already in the gold room counting his millions before they're hatched. That alone would be enough for me to stick with FS9/FSX until I'm too senile to know what a computer is anymore.
I'm another that wouldn't give that guy a dime of my money, as far as I'm concerned my staying with FS9/FSX shows my determination to support the guys from ACES that have given us what we have now, no thanks to Microsoft.

I appreciate that message Ed :wavey:

falcon409

January 26th, 2009, 03:46

I appreciate that message Ed :wavey:
My pleasure Francois,
Glad to see the Facebook site is tallying new members at a pretty good clip right now too. Just seems that there could have been a less extreme solution open to MS than to simply dump the entire shop. As I said, FS9/FSX are here to stay and I don't see anything else on the horizon that can touch it, despite what's being said elsewhere.

bstolle

January 26th, 2009, 04:25

I know x-plane since version 3, I tried v9 and even built planes for various versions, but in the end I always came back to FS.
1st; the planes have too little inertia. They don't 'feel' like real planes.
I haven't seen a single 'real' pilot who considers x-planes behaviour convincing.
2nd; basic aerodynamic problems can't be resolved due to x-planes 'blade-element-theory'.
A lot of planes like the really nice looking Mu2 (at least it's freeware predecessor) have very serious handling problems.
E.g. I never achieved flightmanual perfomance for my (v9) Hansajet due to these limitations.
3rd; Planes with a highly sophisticated systems-simulation like the PMDG MD-11 are far out of reach.
IMHO the gap between FS and x-plane became even wider when MS introduced FSX!

I'm really looking forward to an extended FSX live and for that reason, even further improved FSX-planes ;)

No, I don't think that SOH needs an x-plane forum

gera

January 26th, 2009, 05:09

Sure, the more the better. I am sure that with the "Vacuum" left by our great Master MS, who has everyone by the ***alls both with this Sim and in the business world with its "expensive and full of Bugs Vista OS", someone will come out
with a better Sim eventually...........Do youīll thing NO ONE can do better?????? they were the top of the Mount
and no one can ever beat them?????? ---note I am talking both of MS and the Aces......Come on people, time passes
and things and people go with it....I have seen a lot come and go.....So Yes, do open a Forum for other Sims, why not???:welcome:

Daube

January 26th, 2009, 05:15

Signed up at the X-Plane forum, just to see what's going on. Looks active and I didn't see much "told you so" over the demise of Aces, in fact some of the posts were sorry to see MSFS go.

Valid point here. I'm often following the XPlane.org forum because it's the most active one for X-Plane, and I'm interested by the features of this simulator since years.

Sure this forum has some pretty stupid members, but that's the case in most forums, including FS9/FSX forums (just looks a little back in time, the behavior of some FS9'ers when FSX appeared). Thruth is that behind those guys, there are a whole bunch of nice guys, real sim enthusiats with a BRAIN, willing to help and inform... just like on any other forum.

Now, the page from Meyer about welcoming the rats that leave the FS sinking ship.... that's really funny. This guy is being a little bit too much optimistic on the delays. It will take years before FSX looses his interest.

I am personnaly considering buying XPlane 9. It's not that I want to leave FSX, because FSX gives me most of what I need in a flight sim. However, XPlane has some stuff that is missing in FSX, mainly for the flight models (you know, vectored thrust, space flight etc...) and that's something I want to experience. Now, having seen tons of XPlane screenshots, I can safely state that the XPlane graphics are TERRIBLE for the most part. Being a VFR, low and slow lovers, XPlane has really NOTHING to offer me in this area at this time, but I expect this will change in future, because we all know how fast this sim evolves.

Leaving the FS world just because MS is stopping the developpments would be stupid. We all know waht modules can do, how much they can add features that did not exist before (rcbo stuff is THE perfect example).

But ignoring the XPlane world just because it is XPlane would be even more stupid. Concerning the original question in this topic, I don't really know what to answer. On one hand, the XPlane.org is the main forum for XPlane, all the experienced users are there, all the informations are there.
On the other hand, I would prefer discovering the XPlane world within a community I know, you guys here :friday:, instead of risking the Harleyman experience on the other forum. :hand:

jimjones

January 26th, 2009, 07:25

They remind me of the people at People's Temple-Jim Jones group and they love their Kool-Aid. Austin is the Exalted One and as you say IAN Microsoft the evil empire. I will say that some of them have been extremely kind about the ACES deal and have great sympathy for their plight, but then you get the other mob that can't see beyond the forest they created.

BTW Michael their sales may be up but they are not counting the ones who buy it, try it and toss it! Those are in the majority. I meet them on facebook and other sim sites like Flight Gear. Still I think an XPlane forum over here would be cool we haven't drunk the Kool-Aid.
Ted

I've got plenty of KOOL-AID left for free.:jump:

Seriously, I purchased X-Plane today but have yet to install it. A forum here might be nice, but if there are others elsewhere that should suffice for now. Should MSFS die altogether then a full time forum would be necessary. MS discontinued a space sim and the combat sims and they have not returned......yet.

Just to balance out my purchases, I got a duplicate of FSX, but in the Gold version. Want MS to know there is life in there sim still, and also have a spare should my other discs go kaput.

I have track ir4 and hope that it will work.

Lionheart

January 26th, 2009, 08:47

I cant see FS dying.. Look at CFS1! Still tons of followers.. I will not throw away my CFS1 disc. Too good of a sim. Now and then I load it up. I still intend to try CFS2 someday. I think FS9 and FSX will be here for ages....

As for X-Plane, its just a different sim. Its not really competing as its so different from FS. FS has 'alot' to offer. X-Plane does not, but it does have alot for what it is. Goodness, its got Autogen, cloud shading on Earth, real world aerodynamics, weapons systems.

Comparing the two though is almost like comparing FS to CFS. Two diff sims.

Yep, I would massively enjoy a X-Plane forum room. I want to get a couple of my own birds converted to XP9 format, and also learn how to get those planes 'twitchiness' dialed out. Looks like some fun going in there and making some improvements.

Bill

Major_Spittle

January 26th, 2009, 10:08

Wow, I have only flown MSFS and know nothing about X-Plane first hand but this thread speaks volumes about who has drank the kool-aide. I would just like to remind people that X-Plane and FSX are both games in hopes that that people realise there is no winner or loser, rooting for a home team, hate them because their planes look poopy and mine are shiney........

After sifting through much BS it sounds like, from the people who play both games and don't look at it as a competition in which one or the other must be backed to win or if someone says something bad about the FS I own I must take it personal, that X-Plane is much behind FSX in most everything.

I guess the thing that intrigues me about X-Plane is its use of physics in flight modeling and the fact it is still in development and will get better. MS got out of the CFS arena years ago and failed to give FSX the ability to really support that. I may be wrong here, but X-Plane could possibly fill that void.

But other than Combat there are many other things that I feel were left out of FSX that X-Plane might include in theirs as it is developed. Online play with greater player interaction to create more purpose for flying. Combat, Cargo runs, airlines, competitions..... all things that could make the experience more enjoyable. Look at what people go through for the Around the world race competitions and such, there is so much potential here.

Hardware is developing rapidly and the i7 PCs of today can calculate a lot more physics than the best 8P systems 4 years ago. I would really like to see an X-Plane forum so I can keep track of developments in this platform. I am downloading the demo now so I can do some stalls and see how the program works.

Wulf190

January 26th, 2009, 10:22

I still intend to try CFS2 someday.
Bill

C'mon down to the basement. Ya know ya want too!:woot:

:focus:

I think theres would be a problem with opening a X-Plane forum here. Sure X-Plane may have a long way to go, but its still a viable option for folks. We have an IL2 forum here don't we? Besides with the vast majority of the good crew we have here already I doubt anything would get out of control... too much...

And as far as X-plane9 vs FSX vs FS9 is much like IL2 vs CFS2. WHO CARES?! CFS2 is my main WWII combat sim, it has a soft spot in my heart. IL2 is better generally graphics wise and is much better for jumping online and playing with other thinking (I'd hope) people. FS9 is awesome for civi flying. Why don't I fly FSX? Well I haven't really tired it on my rig, (last time I did try it on my old rig it didn't run all that great...) and I like all the add-ons and stuff I already have with FS9.

I admit I haven't tried X-plane, and the big kicker? As others have said, the community. If there was a forum here, I'd give it a shot! gamming is a fun pasttime, but gamming and disgussing it wiht good like minded and interested folks? priceless! *Why else do ya think has the basement been working and running for so dang long?*:gossip:

Major_Spittle

January 26th, 2009, 12:04

I just got done playing the demo and must say it is a much better game than I expected and flying planes in X-plane feels much different than FSX. In X-Plane you can feel the planes instability much more and it feels more like you are flying, especially at low speeds. I was still disappointed in the physics when I did stalls and such but it seemed more realistic during take-off and landing. As others previously stated the graphics don't seem very good after playing FSX, but I found them tollerable, but I also had everything turned way up in 1920X1200.

The demo actually left me wanting more and for $40 at Wal-Mart I think I will grab a copy when I can afford it. :ernae:

jhefner

January 26th, 2009, 12:39

I am neither a pilot, nor have I tried x-plane; but one of my brothers flies helicopters, and says the helicopter flight model in x-plane is much better than the one found in MSFS.

MCDesigns

January 26th, 2009, 12:44

I still intend to try CFS2 someday.

CFS2 was my first sim and I LOVED it. if it had water and texture resolution like FSX, I'd still be flying it.

SkippyBing

January 26th, 2009, 13:03

I am neither a pilot, nor have I tried x-plane; but one of my brothers flies helicopters, and says the helicopter flight model in x-plane is much better than the one found in MSFS.

I'd agree with that, having used X-Plane 7 to practice when I was undergoing basic rotary training. I was landing the Blackhawk on garage rooftops like it was going out of fashion, whereas I can barely fly the damn things in FSX. From memory I stopped using it shortly after Strike Fighters came out which had better graphics (probably still does considering the advances in both) and let me blow things up, and then I got back into FS to help make the Ark Royal.
I'd say the main reason I haven't gone back to X-Plane is that I don't feel the graphics and complexity of setting it up are worth the cost and when I say complexity I was using only X-Plane for a good couple of years and I still found it a PITA. At the same time I'm getting an urge to dig out the discs again and give it a whirl...

Lionheart

January 26th, 2009, 15:47

CFS2 was my first sim and I LOVED it. if it had water and texture resolution like FSX, I'd still be flying it.

In MS, CFS1 was mine. Loved it. I also had Red Baron, Flying Corps Gold, Fly (a very cool sim for back then with photoreal terrain), and a couple of others.

Flying Corps Gold was so darn extreme, you had to learn to go into pattern entry to land at the grass aerodrome with other planes. What an awesome game that was. Flying over the front was wild... bombshelled out, blackened, flak going off... Great detail. (Loved igniting those low alt. observation balloons).

Bill

Lionheart

January 26th, 2009, 15:51

I was using only X-Plane for a good couple of years and I still found it a PITA. At the same time I'm getting an urge to dig out the discs again and give it a whirl...

For me, its the interface, like remembering which keys are which, and tuning the sim..

If only all flight sims used the same keys, like the 'shoot-em-up' games do. W, move forward, F-pick up the new weapon, G-throw the grenade, Q-lean to the left....

arrghh... :banghead:

Bill

SkippyBing

January 26th, 2009, 16:01

If only all flight sims used the same keys,

Amen to that, I mainly use FSX and the Strike Fighters series and that's chaos enough. Anything else I pick up tends to result in randomly hitting keys to get the reaction I want.

I have occasionally tried mapping my X-52 the same way for all my sims but there's always some command one needs that the others don't even have and it all goes to hell!

EgoR64

January 26th, 2009, 16:38

:rapture:

Anyone tried running under Linux, Re-Built an Old Rig collecting dust thought I would attempt to run under an older copy od Suse Linux 10.0 ?? :friday:

Cheers !!

Daube

January 27th, 2009, 00:54

In MS, CFS1 was mine. Loved it. I also had Red Baron, Flying Corps Gold, Fly (a very cool sim for back then with photoreal terrain), and a couple of others.

Flying Corps Gold was so darn extreme, you had to learn to go into pattern entry to land at the grass aerodrome with other planes. What an awesome game that was. Flying over the front was wild... bombshelled out, blackened, flak going off... Great detail. (Loved igniting those low alt. observation balloons).

Bill

Nothing can beat the formation flying in your Camel with a Zeppelin slowly going down in flames... Wings of Glory !! :woot:

lucas81

January 27th, 2009, 06:26

...RedBaron3D. One of the best single player campaigns done ever and fantastic multiplayer + still active game community with tons of addons. EOT.

But seriously, dedicated SOH section for the X-Plane would be very interesting.

Major_Spittle

February 25th, 2009, 08:44

So, is there someone in charge that is going to add an X-Plane section or can at least give an answer as to if there will be an X-Plane section?

I just purchased X-Plane and fly FSX and X-Plane 9 now as others on this forum do. It would be nice to not post about X-Plane in the FSX thread as I can see how that might irritate some of the FSX only people. I would like to be able to discuss X-Plane add-ons and such still. Please let me know if it is in the works. I have some questions for other X-Plane users, I like your forum and its users, and would perfer to stay on this forum only if it is willing to support X-Plane discussion also.

Also on the X-Plane front. I just got my free A-6 Texan from http://www.jrollon.com/Texan.html and love its flight modeling. It slips, crabs, stalls, and does so many advanced manuvers so realisticly I can't get enough ( well 10 minutes worth at a time due to flying in demo waiting for my X-Plane 9 copy to arrive ).

Please let me know of any good free must have add-ons I should be downloading while I wait for my X-Plane to arrive in the mail.

Thanks

:bump:

spotlope

February 25th, 2009, 09:32

Don't shoot me (really... don't), but I picked up a copy of X-Plane last week. I'm still in the configuring and tweaking phase, but I'll be trying some flights soon. One thing that noticed is that my TrackIR works as expected in the VC's in this version, something that I could never get to work in the 9.0 demo, so that's a big plus. Still, there's clearly a formidable learning curve to the sim, and it would be nice to have a spot here at SOH where we can have friendly discussions and try to figure it all out.

Mithrin

February 25th, 2009, 11:48

Ordered it a couple of days ago so yeah, would be good to see something like that. It's good to not have to google up all the (new) addons by yourself hehe. I guess I'm just a bit lazy.:ernae:

Major_Spittle

February 25th, 2009, 12:44

Don't shoot me (really... don't), but I picked up a copy of X-Plane last week. I'm still in the configuring and tweaking phase, but I'll be trying some flights soon. One thing that noticed is that my TrackIR works as expected in the VC's in this version, something that I could never get to work in the 9.0 demo, so that's a big plus. Still, there's clearly a formidable learning curve to the sim, and it would be nice to have a spot here at SOH where we can have friendly discussions and try to figure it all out.

It took me awhile before I found the " Lateral Field of View " setting. This is very important for a person to find right away in the demo because I was going nuts with the "zoomed in" appearance while trying to fly. I found to just set it at 100 degrees and zoom in if needed, this way it acts just like FSX. I also have had a lot of fun with their weather generator. I really love the snow, rain, and turbulence in X-Plane. Cross wind landings are so much fun in X-Plane. :ernae:

I wonder if the site Admin has taken any notice to the amount of people in just the FSX thread that have X-Plane and would like a discussion thread that supports it? It seems strange that it wouldn't have happened by now, but I don't know if this site encourages membership as I never see too many adds on it and sounds like it survives on donations mainly.

Lionheart

February 25th, 2009, 15:06

Hey Major,

Yep, that setting worked for me also. I hated having my nose against the panel. I was trying to move the eyepoint back, lol....

You know what would be cool is if Austin put out a little questionaire that asked for suggestions for XP. That would be my first one. A slider right in the open (first on the list) that was for that vary adjustment.

I agree. Now that XP is the only 'sim' being manufactured, it would be nice to add it to the halls of FS.

Bill

Henry

February 25th, 2009, 15:21

So, is there someone in charge that is going to add an X-Plane section or can at least give an answer as to if there will be an X-Plane section?

I just purchased X-Plane and fly FSX and X-Plane 9 now as others on this forum do. It would be nice to not post about X-Plane in the FSX thread as I can see how that might irritate some of the FSX only people. I would like to be able to discuss X-Plane add-ons and such still. Please let me know if it is in the works. I have some questions for other X-Plane users, I like your forum and its users, and would perfer to stay on this forum only if it is willing to support X-Plane discussion also.

Also on the X-Plane front. I just got my free A-6 Texan from http://www.jrollon.com/Texan.html and love its flight modeling. It slips, crabs, stalls, and does so many advanced manuvers so realisticly I can't get enough ( well 10 minutes worth at a time due to flying in demo waiting for my X-Plane 9 copy to arrive ).

Please let me know of any good free must have add-ons I should be downloading while I wait for my X-Plane to arrive in the mail.

Thanks

:bump:
im not in charge, but noted
i will pass it along to the people in charge
H

Boomer

February 25th, 2009, 15:45

If only all flight sims used the same keys,

I just configured my controls to be the same as FSX. No issues then everything operates (at least in the cockpit) the same with both.

I do admit I dont like the interface as much as FS but thats just the clothes. Otherwise I enjoy XP greatly!

I have made great strides of late in the "assimilation" process. If ya'll have any questions I might be able to ease the transition. :)

Major_Spittle

February 25th, 2009, 15:53

im not in charge, but noted
i will pass it along to the people in charge
H

Thanks Henry. :applause:

Henry

February 25th, 2009, 16:06

Its not as easy as 123
i would need a couple of Mods
who are knowledgeable with X plane
Volunteers could pm me
this is not a yes or no
im investigating
H

Ark

February 25th, 2009, 19:56

I just bought XP v9 a few days ago, and at first, I was a little "iffy" on it. However, after spending a few days with it, I haven't really touched FSX. The entire install for XP v9 is crazy, and IIRC, comes in at about 80 GB. The default aircraft are pretty poor, but some of the add-ons are fantastic. For example, check out the Alphajet by XPFR....WOW:

http://xpfr-aeroplanes.dtccorp.org/aircrafts/Alphajet/intro.html

It looks gorgeous in-game and flies great!

Something about XP intrigues me. For some reason, the FS series just doesn't feel right to me (in a lot of cases), almost as if many of the aircraft are flying on rails or something. When I land in XP, I actually feel like I'm landing, like I'm working to get the aircraft on the ground. With Flightsim., it is almost as if I can hop in and land whenever I want wherever in whatever I want with minimal effort. Also, I see a lot of folks around the net knocking the scenery in XP....why? The scenery I have seen in-game looks awesome. Deep valleys, high mountains, clouds that actually cast moving shadows on the ground, nice looking water, road traffic.............and good performance! I guess, in a lot of ways, I don't see why so many folks are so "against" X-Plane. Is it the product, or is it something else I am not aware of?

Both sims have their pluses and minuses, and both have a place on my HD. Personally, I think folks canceling out X-Plane without spending some actual time with it (other than the demo) are really missing out.

At Best Buy, it's currently only $29.99. Not too bad, IMO.

Major_Spittle

February 25th, 2009, 20:30

For all X-Plane lacks, I have done many things in it that I haven't been able to do in FSX:woot:. It feels much more like you are flying with many of the planes. I don't see why so many are down on it. I just hope X-Plane starts to develop faster so it will be able to have the AI traffic and ATC system that FSX has now along with the instrumentation/avaionics that FSX has.

And I know what you are saying about flying on rails, it is nice to have a rudder. :amen:

Lionheart

February 26th, 2009, 00:51

Have you seen the trains yet?

Also, you might check out LOWI (Innsbruck) for some cool detail. You might have to boost up your ground airport detail scenery scaler to full to get everything to show up, but it has static cars and things.

If they started doing that to all airports, it would be a wild sim, scenery wise.

Also, you can adjust the light. It looks a bit darkish. Just boost that setting up.

Bill

N332DW

February 26th, 2009, 03:47

i beleive x-plane uses Blender for modelling - blender has a plugin that will import true FSX models but loses a ton of detail in doing so - so here is the dilema... it's taken me a decade to get "average" at modelling and modding for the FS series - do i want to spend another decade climbing up the steep slopes of Mount learning curve for X-Plane.

maybe , but I am not yet motivated to start over - it's a huge investment

but still , never say never

and on the topic of an X-plane forum - this has always been a predominatly FS oriented site -
"can we all just get along" with the new neighbors or could it get ugly ???

i'm sure Ickie would find that scenario ,,, entertaining

Boomer

February 26th, 2009, 04:40

I cant say for you gMax users but Max & blender seem to play well together.

I have made a few simple models in Max & they import nicely into blender as a 3ds or obj. It would appear that it even preserves all the uvw mapping.

I have yet to export the objects into XP but thus far it seems like it is fairly straight forward.

My biggest issue is figuring out Blender. Its an odd proggy.

MCDesigns

February 26th, 2009, 04:46

I

My biggest issue is figuring out Blender. Its an odd proggy.

yep, the interface is the main reason I stopped using it.

gera

February 26th, 2009, 07:13

There is a "converter" by which you can "import" FSX scenery to XP...works very well...I have not used for a long time so I donīt remember the name but Iīll check and post......

VCN-1

February 26th, 2009, 07:18

Looks as if a trip to Best Buy or Wally World is in order this weekend.

I watched some of the vid's, and I gotta say the scenery is nice...very nice. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my TrackIR to work in XP9, and the cockpits were a big step backwards. The end result was I uninstalled it. My hands are full just keeping FSX running efficiently. The learning curve of a new sim and the task of converting FSX addons to work in it, makes XP9 a dust collector for me at this juncture. IMO, XP is going to have to take a few more leaps through evolution.

spotlope

February 26th, 2009, 08:31

I ran the FSX-X-Plane scenery converter on Plum Island to see what would happen. Result? It's not too bad for a first pass. The buildings and objects are all there, and properly textured (mostly). There are numerous draw-order issues, the trees look like crap because they're no long flat-shaded, and of course it couldn't deal with my FSX phototerrain at all. I get the feeling that with some massaging, it might work though.

Bone, I was having no luck with TrackIR in the 9.0 demo as well. In the version I bought (9.21) it seems to work just dandy. I think Austin fixed something between then and now. If you're curious to try it, you might update to 9.2 or 9.3 and see if that fixes it for you.

MCDesigns

February 26th, 2009, 08:38

Check the "Real Scenery" Movies here....

http://www.realscenery.com/

Impressive videos and probably the best I have seen the sim look from all the images I have viewed. the one thing that REALLY impresses me are the clouds casting shadows, man, that makes such a difference in my eye.

Anyone have the real scenery installed? Would love to see some close up shots of the ground when about to taxi or landing/takeoff.

Bone

February 26th, 2009, 08:47

Bone, I was having no luck with TrackIR in the 9.0 demo as well. In the version I bought (9.21) it seems to work just dandy. I think Austin fixed something between then and now. If you're curious to try it, you might update to 9.2 or 9.3 and see if that fixes it for you.

Thanks Spotlope. I bought XP9, also, and the disks say it's version 9.0.0. I guess Wallmart got a good deal on the old version, doh! If I get the urge to install XP again, I'll look for the updated patch. Right now, I'm just going to take the path of least resistance...FSX.

Lionheart

February 26th, 2009, 09:49

Anyone have the real scenery installed? Would love to see some close up shots of the ground when about to taxi or landing/takeoff.

Michael,

I have the Demo from Real Scenery Arizona, it has a large chunck of Scottsdale in it. Its about the same as 'generation 2' Mega Scenery for FS9, not very crisp. Great from the air though. The Demo is free.

Bill

MCDesigns

February 26th, 2009, 10:10

Thanks Bill!

Major_Spittle

February 26th, 2009, 10:34

Speaking of scenery, I ran across this http://www.xplanefreeware.net/tom/InsidePassage/Demo.html and it has a demo. Looks pretty interesting.

MudMarine

February 26th, 2009, 10:38

Are there any good military aircraft for XPlane? The only thing I don't like about it is the poor VC's some aircraft have. The lack of a good VC just ruins it for me!

Major_Spittle

February 26th, 2009, 10:50

Are there any good military aircraft for XPlane? The only thing I don't like about it is the poor VC's some aircraft have. The lack of a good VC just ruins it for me!

Agreed! If you find one let me know. I will be getting my copy soon and will need a good spitfire or corsair.

My first purchase will probably be this http://www.jrollon.com/Javelin.html or the CRJ he is working on. These have the best looking VCs I have seen yet.

Boomer

February 26th, 2009, 12:11

The Javeline is sweet!

The only thing I fly more than it is Helos.

MudMarine

February 26th, 2009, 12:35

Looks nice but I like prop planes. Something around the WWII era would be nice. I've seen a P51 and Hurricane but I don't know how good they are.

Ark

February 26th, 2009, 18:10

Are there any good military aircraft for XPlane? The only thing I don't like about it is the poor VC's some aircraft have. The lack of a good VC just ruins it for me!

Hello Mud,

Check this Alphajet out:

http://xpfr-aeroplanes.dtccorp.org/aircrafts/Alphajet/intro.html

Not a prop, but nice nonetheless. :ernae:

Major_Spittle

February 27th, 2009, 10:26

Yippee, got my X-Plane 9 in the mail yesterday and will install Sunday. Been looking at all the freeware out there and the quality of it. Lots and lots to download. 1st thing I want to try is This:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3VnlTG6YSI&NR=1

Watch it in HD. It is google earth textures in X-Plane 9. I would really like to do this for a couple areas I fly alot at, it looks perfect. If anyone else has used G2XPL and has any input as to how well it works, let me know because I may be trying this for a small area next week.

Boomer

February 27th, 2009, 10:40

Looks nice but I like prop planes. Something around the WWII era would be nice. I've seen a P51 and Hurricane but I don't know how good they are.

There is a Spitfire & a Hurricane that are almost to the standards of FSX. Both are payware though. You can get them both for less than you would pay for a single FSX plane.

There is a Spitfire & a Hurricane that are almost to the standards of FSX. Both are payware though. You can get them both for less than you would pay for a single FSX plane.

http://store01.prostores.com/servlet/x-planestore/Detail?no=154

http://store01.prostores.com/servlet/x-planestore/Detail?no=137

Bought the Hurri. It's about FS9 level.

Major_Spittle

February 27th, 2009, 14:05

There is a Spitfire & a Hurricane that are almost to the standards of FSX. Both are payware though. You can get them both for less than you would pay for a single FSX plane.

http://store01.prostores.com/servlet/x-planestore/Detail?no=154

http://store01.prostores.com/servlet/x-planestore/Detail?no=137

Bought the Hurri. It's about FS9 level.

Yeah, I didn't see anything on that site that impressed me enough that I would spend money on it. No videos or real pictures of their products that I saw.

I did find a pretty nice Spitfire for $15 with working guns. http://www.myvirtualhanger.com/SPITFIRE_PICS.html

Can you post a few shots of the Hurricane so I could maybe get a better idea of what it looks like?? Does it have weapons?

VCN-1

March 5th, 2009, 11:53

It is going to take awhile to learn this.

Just the key strokes are so foreign to MS flightsims series. That is my major stumbling block.

After getting away from just the defaults and populating scenery, adjusting screen settings it looked good. And it was smooth.

It looks as if I will have to try to find files for Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS or learn the how to program it again, it is amazing how fast you loose it if your not doing files.

An X-Plane forum IMHO is needed. I could see spending a lot of time there.

VCN-1

JIMJAM

March 5th, 2009, 12:34

I have tried X-plane 3 times. I really,really, tried to let it grow on me cause I FSX has really caused me alot of grief over the years. I recently bought the lastest version with the gigs of scenery and IMO looks horrible.
I took off from my home airport and got lost. The autogen is slung around like a childs playpen. Farms next to factories next to fields next to fuel tanks. The keystrokes alone took me hours to try to make sense of. Vr pits are laughable if there even is one. To date I gave spent over $150 on X-Plane versions trying to support ANY competition to MS. I have done my part and he will not see another dime until a major overhaul is done. Instead of trying to tweak the engine into something it wil never be, they need to start over from scratch. Like IL2,Falcon, their time has come and gone. Still fun to play with but way behind the tech curve.

Major_Spittle

March 5th, 2009, 15:12

I installed my X-Plane last weekend and had a lot of fun flying. I didn't have any problem with setting up my X-52(?) Joystick and throttle and found its interface to be pretty straight forward for controls and visuals. The real world weather updates were the best, I was flying around the Portland area in my Texan with scattered storm cells that changed from rain to snow and in intensity. It was a bumpy ride with the turbulence and I had fun crabbing into the wind on some short runways in the hills. Flaps full down, sideways, and I could really "feel" the changing in lift from the wind. Lots of stuff to see with trains and smoke from factories and such. I also did some forest fire patrols and put a few out, hard to fill the bird with water skipping across some of the lakes.

All in all I am really impressed. I installed a freeware program G2XPL that creates googlemap textures for the area you are flying over on the fly. I couldn't get it to work though, I am not sure if it is because I am running Vista64 or X-Plane 9.3b, but if anyone has experience with this let me know because I would really like to get it working.

X-Plane has a ways to go in lots of areas, but is miles ahead of FSX in others. :ernae:

Lionheart

March 5th, 2009, 19:10

I had a blast flying patterns at Scottsdale airport in Phoenix in the stock 182, (which is a great bird in quality. Could you imagine these guys doing the next release of XP with about 7 planes of this level of quality?)

If you guys get a chance, download the demo of Photoreal Arizona. It has a section of Scottsdale in it. (You can find it at the XPlane website in the sales banners).

Bill

JimC1702

March 5th, 2009, 19:27

I got X-Plane 9 in the mail today. Had some problems installing it, it failed to copy several files on a couple of the discs, but seems to be working ok. After my maiden flight in the C-172, I went to X-Plane.com and downloaded updates.

And now I finally have a Phantom to fly!

78716

So far, the program isn't bad. I still need to set up some keys but it's coming along.

Jim

harleyman

March 5th, 2009, 20:07

I bought it...Looked at the learning curb...Downloaded and installed the demo... Got totally lost as to get the thing into the air...Uninstalled it and returned my copy...

FSX is struggle enough at times....I have no desire for more in my life right now....LOL

Lionheart

March 5th, 2009, 21:12

Man.. I still havent flown that Phantom... arrgh..

Bill

Major_Spittle

March 5th, 2009, 22:10

Any word if there is going to be an X-plane thread? Please don't make me hang out at those " other " forums. :help:

Francois

March 6th, 2009, 00:30

..... so far you have ONE thread..... :kilroy:

Chacha

March 6th, 2009, 04:46

I fly X-Plane once in a while.... I have a problem with keys I got lost/confused (I am using FS a lot!) If only they can work as my FS keys! (I cant figure out how to convert the keys yet!)

Would be nice to have an X Plane discussion here! (LIKE A ONE STOP SHOP)...

Eli

gera

March 6th, 2009, 05:04

I fly X-Plane once in a while.... I have a problem with keys I got lost/confused (I am using FS a lot!) If only they can work as my FS keys! (I cant figure out how to convert the keys yet!)

Would be nice to have an X Plane discussion here! (LIKE A ONE STOP SHOP)...

Eli

Check the Xplane.org forum, there is a "key chart" you can download and you will have in front of you all key combinations..........it takes about 5 minutes to "pass" the main controls, flaps, gear etc....to your joystick or yoke buttons, with that working youīll manage the sim very well. Then you can check each key as you fly or whatever....its as easy as FSX or easier!!!!!!!:hand:

Major_Spittle

March 6th, 2009, 05:06

..... so far you have ONE thread..... :kilroy:

Can we sticky it or put it in an area of its own labeled X-Plane? :whistle:

harleyman

March 6th, 2009, 05:12

For all of you that are wanting an X Plane forum....

We are looking into it...I will again bring it up to the staff and see if we can push a decission along....

Major_Spittle

March 6th, 2009, 05:19

Thanks

harleyman

March 6th, 2009, 06:04

Working on it right now....:woot: You are :welcome: LOL

harleyman

March 6th, 2009, 06:09

OK Folks...What we would like to do as this is getting much attention is to make this a Sticky till we see if there is enough generated intrest for its own forum..That too would require another mod to start it up...

So..Lets see how it will go for now...

Consider this the *Official* X-Plane Temp Forum.....( for starters)

Tell all your friends...:gossip:

Boomer

March 6th, 2009, 06:15

Instead of trying to tweak the engine into something it wil never be, they need to start over from scratch. Like IL2,Falcon, their time has come and gone. Still fun to play with but way behind the tech curve.

Bear in mind that you are using FSX as a benchmark. The culmination of 20+ years of development & millions of man hours.

To draw a parallel you are comparing a F-16 to a para glider from a expenditure & R&D standpoint.

The fact that X-plane is as good as it is is a testament to how good a sim it is. They have made great strides with a relatively small community.

Look at the payware add on "Inside Passage". While not up to FSX standards it is easily FS9 quality.

If there is an influx of fresh dev blood from FS IMO you will see great things from XP.

gera

March 6th, 2009, 06:44

Xplane is Not to be compared with FSX at the moment.....right now they are a different kind of breeds!!!!.....so if you set up some time for Xplane, what I think you should do is: learn as much of it as you can, slowly but surely. Check out the many forums, payware addons, freeware planes and all other goodies, and fly......In itself itīs a "little world" of its own with many surpises, some very nice and some just ok......I fly it mostly on sundays, why?, I donīt know but its enjoyable and it sure makes me smile.........those 60Gig of world scenery sure take space hu??????......I am staring with some scenery design there and hope to put out an "FSAdventureSky" Flight in the near future..Zoooooooooooooom!!!!!:whistle:

fsafranek

March 6th, 2009, 07:33

Can we please have an X-Plane section and then move this thread out of the FSX area?
FSX and FS9 are not dead. The future of FS has not stopped. It has just been more clearly defined.
We are there now. It is back in our control. It is up to us what we do with it.
:ernae:

Wiens

March 6th, 2009, 07:38

Just my two cents......

As I've said before, I'd like to see an X-Plane forum here at SOH in addition to the CFS, FS9 & FSX forums.

Kevin :rapture:

Lionheart

March 6th, 2009, 08:55

Someday, when I get caught up (heh heh) I want to convert one of my planes to XP9. I think that would be a blast. Sure would be cool to figure out a very easy, clear cut way of doing a conversion with a check list so that we could distribute it to all the Devs and then everyone would be 'even keel' with how its done and we can get some nice birds in there. (There are already of course. We would just add some to the lists :d ).

Bill

Paularx

March 6th, 2009, 09:32

I too would like to see an X-plane forum at SOH - there are good reasons for me to not even want to bother any further with the alternative. In so many threads the condecending tone held "over there" towards newcommers / FS veterans makes me imagine violent acts - trying to calm down a bit in my life.

The People here are good uns, and reading through each days new posts relaxes me. I would much prefer a pleasant and INTELLIGENT forum than a bunch of opinionated....<insert your favourite derogerative term here>.

Odd though that the unthinking loyalty to variations in persuits essentially so similar would be so dichotomous !

Flightgear is shaping up to be something special though - if it ever comes to that I believe i will rather plegde my unthinking and unquestioning love, worship and devotion to the gods of GNU :karate:

Boomer

March 6th, 2009, 10:15

Yeah there are a few pompous :censored: there.

I have seen some posts here that suggest that this is a MS FS site only. IMO thats totally wrong. SOH a community of aviation enthusiasts irrespective of preffered sim.
What make SOH so popular is the environment created & attitude of its members. Thats why an X-Plane forum would do especially well here. Once word of said forum filtered to the XP sites I wouldnt be surprised if we got some converts :)

Major_Spittle

March 6th, 2009, 11:43

Thanks Outhouse people, you guys rock! :woot:

Now all you X-Plane scrubs, go out and review some X-Plane freeware so I know what to download this weekend!!!!

Payware I would be interested in is the Javelin, Spitfire, or hurricane if anyone has comments on those!

Took my first complete flight in X-Plane tonight. Flew a Piper Comanche from Fulton County, NY (NY0) to Glens Falls, NY (KGFL) by VOR. I'm starting to get used to X-Plane.

78792

Jim

Lionheart

March 6th, 2009, 17:29

Took my first complete flight in X-Plane tonight. Flew a Piper Comanche from Fulton County, NY (NY0) to Glens Falls, NY (KGFL) by VOR. I'm starting to get used to X-Plane.

78792

Jim

Nice Commanche Jim.

In case you didnt know, you can adjust the distance of visual out farther. I have mine set pretty far. Supposedly it effects framerates (as I get a warning message that it will), but not enough for the sim to get jittery.

Bill

JimC1702

March 6th, 2009, 19:12

It WAS a nice Comanche. I just landed at Oneonta Municipal airport. All was going so well. Flaps down, landing lights on.....just one small problem....I forgot to put the gear down!

78820

Jim

Major_Spittle

March 7th, 2009, 06:15

I have noticed that I can set up the eye candy Maxed out for the most part, then start flying and the game looks and runs amazing for the first 5 minutes and then I get the dreaded fog effect that shuts down my visiblity to a couple miles or so. What the frak? I have 6gigs of ram (no page file set) Q9450@3.6, and a 8800gt vid card.

This is on version 9.3b, any know any tricks to get the most out of my system? I also noticed that this game uses more ram than FSX while running, but only 2 cores are really being used on my processor.

harleyman

March 7th, 2009, 06:58

It WAS a nice Comanche. I just landed at Oneonta Municipal airport. All was going so well. Flaps down, landing lights on.....just one small problem....I forgot to put the gear down!

78820

Jim

Sweetttttttttttttttttttttt You fly like me....LOL Great pic though....:friday:

JimC1702

March 7th, 2009, 07:53

I'm spending more time with X-Plane and getting accustomed to it. I tried real world weather last night and it's way better than FSX. The rain and snow effects are fantastic.

The biggest downfall I see so far is that the ATC is terrible. As bad as FSX ATC is, it's far and above what X-Plane has at the moment. The other downfalls are lack of AI and detailed airports.

Jim

Major_Spittle

March 7th, 2009, 12:08

X-Plane 9.3 beta 5 has been released : http://www.x-plane.com/beta.html :woot:

It has a few neat tweaks from beta 4. I wish I was off work right now to try it.

Lionheart

March 7th, 2009, 12:20

The biggest downfall I see so far is that the ATC is terrible. As bad as FSX ATC is, it's far and above what X-Plane has at the moment. The other downfalls are lack of AI and detailed airports.

Jim

I agree. They (XP) need to do some real voices. It would really add some realism there.

I found out (after buying my iMac) that Apple is big on electronic voices. Apple has auto-reading features for all texts, such as internet, PDF, Docs, etc. You even have a choice of voices for the computer, perhaps 12 of them, lol.. I think thats where XP got that part from.

Lets hope it changes soon.

Bill

ericts

March 8th, 2009, 13:40

I tried it. I like it. My Sim computer is defunct, so when I get the scratch to buy my new system, I will be installing XP9 as well as FS9 and FSX.